It is known to treat water with ultraviolet light in order to destroy undesirable bacteria and other microorganisms. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,719 which issued Aug. 26, 1997 to Kurtz et al. discloses an ultraviolet lamp rack assembly comprising an array of vertically disposed ultraviolet lamps for the treatment of fluids. The assembly has a separate enclosure for the housing at least one ballast and electronic components to power the lamps. Kurtz et al. indicate that substantial amounts of heat are generated during functioning of the ballast and that cooling is required. Cooling is provided by blowing air through the enclosure, or by means of air conditioning or the use of a heat exchanger.
Another arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,256 which issued May 28, 1991 to Ifill et al. This patent discloses an ultraviolet lamp rack assembly comprising a vertical array of horizontally disposed ultraviolet lamps for the treatment of waste water. A power control panel is provided at a location remote from the rack assembly for the inclusion of ballasts and various electronic components. Alternatively, the ballasts for the lamps may be located in a submerged vertical conduit which forms a part of the rack. One of the problems associated with such an arrangement is that the ballasts are difficult to remove from the rack, and if one ballast needs to be replaced then all of the ballasts must be removed. This is inefficient, as the ultraviolet treatment unit is out of service for a long period of time. Variations of the device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,256 to Ifill et al. are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,482,809, 4,872,980 and 5,006,244 to J. M. Maarschalkerweerd which issued Nov. 13, 1984, Oct. 10, 1989 and Apr. 9, 1991 respectively. The ballasts and power supply to the lamps are separate from the lamps and lamp racks.
Most commercial treatment systems for water, in which the water is treated with ultraviolet radiation, use ultraviolet lamps which have electrodes therein and are associated with ballasts. The present invention is also suitable for lamps which are electrodeless and are associated with high frequency excitation couplers. A description of a typical electrodeless lamp and coupler may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,277 to W. P. Lapatovich which issued Dec. 3, 1991.
The present invention attempts to overcome the deficiencies of the previous systems and provide a system which is easily maintained.
The term "wire", as used herein in relation to the present invention, includes a plurality of wires, e.g. as in a cable.
The terms "comprising/comprises" when used in this specification are taken to specify the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.